Essay on Art
by lotus-genie
Summary: A fanfic set in Wayward's Transformers: Forever universe. Two groups of Autobots must band together to stop a threat more dangerous than even the Decepticons.
1. Big Trouble in Yarraron

_This story is set in Wayward's Transformers: Forever universe. It is a possible future for G1. The premise is that years of peace has caused Cybertronian society to stymie. A femme snaps and declares herself Megatron. She then tries to start another war, but a security Monitor, changing his name to Optimus Prime, tries to stop her. This story tkes place some time after the first "season" ends. Strictly speaking, if Forever was an authentic cartoon, this would be an OVA. For more background, go to Wayward's site-- In Space, No One Can Hear Starscream._

_The Transformers concept belongs to Hasbro. The concept of Transformers: Forever and all the characters and technobabble in the universe belong to Wayward. Ask her if you want to use any characters or ideas from this fic.

* * *

_

Optimus Prime sighed as he stared out at his city. How had thing gotten to be like this? Just a couple (human) months ago, he had been simply Orion, Monitor of Sector eighteen. Then, a femme claiming to be Megatron had turned up. In one moment of inspiration, Orion had renamed himself Optimus Prime and led a small group of Autobots against ht e newly-formed Decepticons. That was when his life started turning upside-down. Almost in rapid succession, he had discovered that Cybertronian culture was stymieing, Quintessons were trying to reclaim Cybertron, and that everyone's personality had been affected by Quintesson brainwashing. Optimus sighed again. It had been quite some time since Megatron had launched her latest raid, but there was still something uneasy about the peace that surrounded the city.

"There is an incoming transmission from Sector three." The voice of one of his aides snapped Prime out of his daze. "Shall I put it on screen, Sir?"

"Proceed." Prime muttered. Receiving a message from another monitor usually meant some sort of impending crisis, and it was his obligation to help nip the problem in the bud before He remembered the Monitor of Sector three—Depthshadow, a mechanism whose mere name sent shudders down one's spine. If he required aid, then something had to be horribly wrong.

"Salutations, Orion—no, Optimus Prime, Monitor of Sector eighteen." The sight of the Autobot on the screen shocked Optimus. She was a blue-green and amber colored femme with blue eyes. Her most significant features were large, double-layered shoulder pads that tapered to a jagged end and a seashell-like protrusion on the back of her head. Her armor was decorated with odd spiral ridges and red colored "windows. From the information presented to his optics, this was definitely not Depthshadow.

"W-what is the purpose of this message?" Optimus asked, slightly shaken from the shock of seeing a stranger on the screen.

"Please forgive me for troubling you, especially when we have not yet been acquainted, but Decepticon activity has been sighted within sector three. Being the monitor, I am obliged to handle this crisis." Her speech was clear, and her tone was polite and calm, but Optimus could see the message that she was trying to get across: _Your problem is on my turf, and I'm not happy about this_.

"I'll help in any way I can." Prime promised, hoping that the girl who was speaking to him would be satisfied.

"There is a way that you may aid me, but I am afraid it will be troublesome. You are experienced with fighting Decepticons, so it would be advantageous is you were to come and assist in our efforts." Again, her message was lucid even when hidden behind courtesy. _This is your problem_—_you take care of it_.

"I will arrive in sector three shortly." Prime paused for a second before asking the question that had been troubling him since the conversation started. "Who are you, and where is Depthshadow?"

"I forgot to introduce myself; how rude of me. I am Alkyone, the creation of Depthshadow. Since my creator has suffered an unfortunate and inconvenient death, I have become the Monitor of Sector three." She smiled at him, making her face seem to become a facsimile of Depthshadow.

Perhaps it was the smile, or perhaps it was the abnormal emphasis that Alkyone placed on the word "unfortunate," but after Alkyone ended her message, Optimus felt his knees tremble. He remembered when he had met Depthshadow. The Monitor of Sector three had been the strongest Monitor on Cybertron. He was rumored to have even matched the power of the Decepticon Monitors from the Great War.

"Pathetic." Depthshadow had said when he first laid eyes upon Orion. "If you are all that defends Cybertron, I do not see why we should not surrender to the first invading force that attacks us. Thankfully, my power shall cover your weakness."

At the time, Orion remembered staring into the older Monitor's dark optics and trembling in fear. There was something scary on a psychosomatic level about Depthshadow, a chilling aspect no mechanism could ever put his finger on. He was the most powerful Monitor, who could easily kill someone on a whim; a fact that justified the fear many had around him. And now, Depthshadow was dead. Despite all of his rumored power, he was dead; and Optimus had an unpleasant intuition that the current monitor of Depthshadow's sector had something to do with it.

"Magnus, I think we have some traveling to do."

* * *

Megatron paced around the dark artist's studio. A mysterious message had informed her that there was someone willing to help her in her quest to revitalize Cybertron. A noise behind her warned her that someone was coming.

"Megatron, I presume. Now, now, put away that weapon, I just want to talk." A form hidden in the shadows assured the Decepticon leader.

"What do you want?"

"I just need your help."

"How do I help?" Megatron's optics dimmed in suspicion.

"Just continue the raids you have been performing recently. They have been beneficial to my projects."

"What do we get in return?"

"Maintenance, financial aid, a base…no matter how you look at it, it's a win-win situation."

"I'll consider your offer." Megatron turned to leave. "Don't take this mean I've accepted your proposal."

* * *

"Hello, you must be the famous Optimus Prime. I've heard about how you stopped the Decepticons and the Quintessons." A cheerful young guard greeted Prime and Magnus. He was a light, golden yellow hover car with lime green accents. He was smiling a smile so sweet it made Magnus feel nauseous. This, combined with his compliments, made both of the visitors feel uneasy.

"Sorry for being rude, but could you take us to your boss?" Magnus attempted to avoid the guard's optics while speaking, because he was staring at her, smiling his spooky smile the entire time.

"Lightshard, do not trouble our guests." Alkyone's voice called from the tower. "Invite them in."

"Yes ma'am; follow me." Lightshard led Optimus to the control rig. He still had his smile, but it now held a hint of curiosity.

"Greetings, Optimus Prime." Alkyone gave her guests a casual salute. "I am honored that you have taken time to come to my aid. However, the odds would be better if more of you had come…"

Optimus winced slightly. Once again, Alkyone's message was lucid: _Do you take me for an idiot? I know there are more of you._

"Den Alpha had to stay and guard our city. Whisper isn't an Autobot anymore." Magnus quickly explained.

"I see." Alkyone nodded, not showing even a hint of her disappointment. "I am not the one who truly requested your presence; it was my boss. You may speak to them now, Captain."

"Thank you for contacting them, Alkyone." A pink and red Autobot stepped into the room. She was lightly built, with short wings sticking out of her back and wheels on her arms and legs. She had a large, white chevron on her fore head and sloping shoulder pads. Her most distinct features were the chains wrapped around her lower arms. The left chain ended in a bladed grappling hook while the right chain ended in a spearhead.

"I was just performing functions that my occupation dictates." Alkyone replied.

"I don't speak Monitor lingo." The captain muttered. Then, she turned to Optimus and Magnus. "My name is Captain Shatterfire of Squad Omega. Our organization was formed by the Defense Force as a special operations division. It's our job to take care of things that neither the police nor the military have the authority to handle. Recently, there have been a number of kidnappings within this city, as well as several reports of suspected Decepticon activity. Since the cases happened in such close proximity to each other, we suspect that they may be connected."

An alarm suddenly gave a shrill scream throughout the tower. "Captain, we have a situation five-nine-sub-section-B!" A voice called from the level below.

"What does that stand for? Tell it to me in standard dialect, Wavecutter!" Shatterfire shouted over the alarm.

"While you're at it, turn off that annoying alarm. It's raping my audio receptors!" Alkyone called.

"Captain, there's a Decepticon raid in area seven; and I'll turn off the alarm as soon as I can find the switch. Now, where is it…?" Wavecutter's muttering was drowned out by the continued blaring of the siren.

"Alkyone, stay here and explain the details of the case to Optimus Prime." Shatterfire turned to a pair of rust colored mechs who had rushed in. They were the same height, and their faces were echoes of each other. The only thing different about them was that one was a darker shade of brown than the other.

"What's the deal? We were playing computer games and then everything goes on red alert!" The darker twin shouted.

"Twins, Decepticons are making trouble in sector seven…" Shatterfire trailed off when she realized that the twins were staring at Magnus instead of listening to her orders.

"Dude, look at her torso plate." The lighter twin whistled. "She's got bigger boobs than the Captain."

"Bro, every real femme has bigger boobs than the Captain. Shatterfire's flatter than a computer keyboard." His brother replied. In return, both Magnus and Shatterfire bopped the twins on the head.

"Blindside, Firebrand; the two of you are coming with me to stop the Decepticons." Shatterfire commanded. "Windstream, Silvercloud, Whipcoil; you're with Magnus. Cut off the Decepticons' escape route." Shatterfire called to some other Autobots who had just rushed in.

Windstream was a lightly armed seeker with no particularly original traits except for his color scheme. He was pastel mix of yellow, red, and purple, the colors melting into each other. Silvercloud was also a seeker, but she was more slightly built than Windstream. She was, as her namesake implied, silver with green outlines. She also had several painted and pasted ornamentations. Her prominent feature was the dubious honor of having the best figure out of all the girls on the team. Whipcoil was a green and turquoise femme who had spikes covering her torso, shoulders, and hips. She was carrying a long, electrically charged whip and two blasters. What set her apart was that she had red optics, a trait long thought extinct.

"What are we waiting for? Let's kick Decepticon aft!" The twins chorused.

* * *

Thunderclash fired at one of the law enforcement officers that surrounded the warehouse. Mentally, he cursed the deal that Megatron had made with the weird artist. Any sensible Decepticon would have said no, but Megatron had agreed. Luckily for Thunderclash, the law enforcement officers were horrible excuses for fighters and they spent more time cowering behind objects than they did firing on him.

Alongside Thuderclash, Shrapnel sent a wave of electricity at the nearest cop. The target scampered behind a streetlamp, yelping like a Chihuahua. Shrapnel shook his head, disappointed with his opponent's cowardice. Silently, he wondered if he would have to waste his skills on these no-talent hacks again.

"This is Squad Omega. Decepticons, you are outnumbered; surrender or we will use force!" As if to answer Shrapnel's prayer, Shatterfire and her unit arrived on the scene.

"You want a fight? We'll give you one!" Shrapnel yelled, energy gathering in his hand. However, he was stopped by Thunderclash's order.

"There are too many of them. We have to retreat." After that order, Thunderclash and Shrapnel dashed away in different directions.

"Get back here! We still have some matters to settle with you." Blindside, the darker twin shouted as he tried chase after Shrapnel.

"Blindside, you and your brother Firebrand are with me. We're pursuing Thunderclash, not Shrapnel. Magnus, your team will chase Shrapnel." Shatterfire cut Blindside off.

"Why do we have to do it?" Blindside snapped.

"The Captain does not desire for us to be distracted by revenge." Firebrand, the more rational twin explained. His brother nodded and transformed, following Thunderclash's trail.

* * *

A group of figures hunched in the shadows. One of them, obviously the leader, pulled a coin from his subspace pocket.

"It's agreed. Heads: we go with Autobots; tails: we go with Decepticons." The leader announced. He tossed the coin in the air, watching it closely until it hit the ground. The entire group gathered around the coin, watching for the results.

"It landed on…"

* * *

"Recently, people have been disappearing from here, here, and here." Alkyone pointed the spots out on a map. "The Decepticons have made raids here, here, and here. Except for the first kidnapping, all of the raids have been next to these crime scenes, and even took place during the timeslot of the disappearances."

"There is always a possibility of the two not being connected at all. The raids were just coincidental." Optimus speculated. Although he was nervous about working in the close proximity of a possible murderer, he did not outwardly display his discomfort.

"There is that possibility, but those would be creepy coincidences." Alkyone reminded. "Besides, the raids were most likely distractions. Of the four recorded Decepticons, no more than three were ever on the same raid. This leads me to suspect that the Decepticons who were not participating were kidnapping the civilians, possibly to brainwash them into new Decepticons."

"Perhaps, but I'm not convinced. This isn't Megatron's style." Optimus muttered.

"Hey, Prime, can you spare a minute?" Wavecutter poked his head into the room. He was an aquamarine colored speedboat with a tail-like appendage poking out of his back.

"Please don't ask for my autograph." Optimus groaned. While Alkyone was explicating the details, Lightshard had ran in and asked for autographs ten times. Thankfully, Alkyone always thought up tasks for the guard before any permanent damage could be done.

"I'm not asking for Autographs, sir." Wavecutter scratched his head sheepishly. "Is the security officer in your watchtower named Flamespyre?"

"Yes, she just took the job two astrocycles ago." Optimus frowned faintly. "She has a split personality. One of her personalities is Flare; she's really nice and conversational, but she tends to slack off in her work. On the other had, her other persona, Spiral, is completely paranoid and workaholic."

"She has two personalities, huh." Wavecutter shrugged. "Back when I still lived with her, she had five."

* * *

Thunderclash sped into an alley, the twins hot on his trail. He was cursing Megatron, the artist, and the deal, as well as the Autobots pursuing him. Quickly, he turned into a narrow passageway, hoping to lose his pursuers.

The ploy worked. Firebrand and Blindside, in robot mode, attempted to enter the alley at the same time. The result was the two being stuck in the entrance and attempting to push each other away. When Shatterfire saw this, she first tried to pull the twins away, but then decided to take the easy way out, jumping into the alley by using Blindside's head as a stepping stone.

"Drop your weapons and do not attempt an escape, Decepticon." Shatterfire pulled out her gun, but it was shot out of her hand by Thunderclash.

"I'll make you a deal: surrender and I might let you live." Thunderclash kept his gun trained on Shatterfire.

Before he could react, Shatterfire jumped at him and kicked him in the face. Thunderclash, rolling with the blow, kicked at Shatterfire's chin. She ducked and swiped at Thunderclash's legs. When he jumped over her kick, she proceeded to charge at him. Thunderclash grabbed Shatterfire and threw her into a trash processor. Aftter making sure she was stuck, he transformed into vehicle mode and flew away.

"Captain, are you okay?" The twins managed to get themselves unstuck and were now looking at Shatterfire, who was buried, headfirst, up to the waist in trash. After hesitating of r a second, they pulled her out.

Shatterfire spat some pieces of scrap out of her mouth. "Slag, they got away. Return to the tower."

* * *

Shrapnel threw a worried glance behind his shoulder. The Autobots were catching up. Quickly, he charged up a blast and hurled it at the four chasing him. The electric discharge impacted with Whipcoil, knocking her out. Windstream and the others, though concerned, did not glance back because they needed to complete their mission.

Shrapnel turned a corner and ran in a building. In his haste, he forgot to look at the sign hanging above the door, which declared the structure to be a research institute. Magnus, being the fastest, had almost caught Shrapnel, but stopped when she saw him run in the door. Silvercloud, whose reaction time was not as good, knocked over Magnus and then fell down herself. This in turn, caused Windstream to trip over Silvercloud, creating a three-man dog pile.

"Oh Primus, I am so sorry about this!" Silvercloud attempted to get up, but since she was clumsy, she fell back down on Magnus' head.

"Silvercloud, why don't you watch the door while we go in?" Windstream suggested.

"Okay, I won't let you down this time! I promise I will, like, be the best guard ever." Silvercloud was jumping with joy.

After leaving Silvercloud outside, Windstream and Magnus hurried in. Since no one on the lower stories had seen a Cybertronian matching Shrapnel's description, they decided to go check the upper levels.

Meanwhile, Shrapnel had gotten to the fifth floor. He was looking for a hiding place when he heard a voice that was calling to him.

"Decepticon Shrapnel, you can hide in here." A hand gestured to him from behind a door.

Shrapnel, being desperate, rushed into the room without another thought. However, Magnus had already caught a glimpse of him.

"He went in there!" Magnus charged after the blurred shape she had seen. Shrapnel's bright paintjob was hard to miss.

Windstream opened the door, but Shrapnel was nowhere to be seen. Instead, they were confronted by an angry seeker. The seeker was a generic type, painted in maroon and pale cream yellow. His optics were red, a trait now considered exotic. Other than that he had no defining characteristics. He was one of those people who could blend into a crowd and then be unseen.

"What are you doing in my lab?" The seeker frowned and crossed his arms.

"Excuse us, but we were looking for a criminal." Magnus tried to explain.

"Do you think this is just another street? You need warrants to search for criminals. Instead, you barge into my lab, with no evidence, and start tearing the place apart. Who do you think you are?"

"We thought we saw the criminal run in here…"

"You thought? Circumstantial evidence like that does not justify your actions. You are performing an illegal search and seizure here. Get out before I report you."

"And you, sir, are guilty of obstructing justice." Magnus had started to get frustrated.

"I would be obstructing justice if you were doing this legally. Right now, you are the ones breaking the law. I am on the board of directors for this place, and I will report you if you insist upon destroying my personal lab. You cops think you can do anything, don't you? Well, even you can't violate the law and get away with it—especially if you're messing with some one who had a degree of influence in the scientific community." The seeker stared at Windstream and Magnus. "Now, will you leave; or will I have to show you the door?"

Windstream sputtered for a bit, but then turned and left. Magnus left too, but not before giving the room one last visual check. To her disappointment, nothing seemed to be out of place.

"You can come out now." The seeker called to Shrapnel a few minute after Ultra Magnus and Windstream had left.

"Thanks for the save." Shrapnel muttered as he crawled out of the storage closet.

"Now, keep your end of the bargain. Take me to see your leader."

* * *

He was sitting in his room, listening. Sometimes, the ones his creators dragged in would cry or scream or be eerily silent. He couldn't be sure which was worse. He wasn't allowed out of his room unless his creator needed him for an exhibition. Even then, he could not stand the wide space, or the eyes on the multitude.

His companions had increased the last few days. He could still hear their cries, their protests. He could not see them, but he knew they were there. He wondered how long it would be until someone came to get them.

"My name is Wraithscream, and I have come to become a Decepticon." The seeker that had come with Shrapnel announced.

Megatron was taken aback by the proposal. Here was a Cybertronaian, who, for no reason whatsoever, was offering to become one of her soldiers. It was an offer that seemed too good to be true.

"We need as many soldiers as we can get." Thunderclash cut in, accepting Wrathscream's proposal before Megatron could decide. "What is your function?"

"I'm a scientist, but I want to try being a warrior."

"No, stay in the lab." Dreadmoon gestured toward a table covered in spare parts. "You would prove to be a greater asset if you operated as our researcher."

"Shrapnel only cares about body shells, and Megatron is too busy with her plans of conquest. You could be our chief engineer." Thunderclash agreed.

"B-but that means taking back the boring life I just gave up!" Wraithscream protested. He was answered by both Thunderclash's and Megatron's guns being pointed at him.

"Any more protests, any I may begin to give out some antiquated discipline methods." Megatron kept her gun pointed at Wraithscream as he began to trudge toward the table, pouting the entire time.

"I almost forgot." Wraithscream turned back to Megatron and grinned. "I heard that you were attractive, but I had to see for myself. Now I see that you aren't attractive—you're beautiful."

"Get your own muse and leave mine alone!" Shrapnel zapped his new comrade with a bolt of electricity for the ill-timed compliment to Megatron.

* * *

Shatterfire groaned as she hauled her body into the watch tower. After a long, hard chase, both parties had failed in their objective.

"Welcome back, Captain. Were you successful in the capture of the Decepticon rogues?" Alkyone greeted everyone with a smile just big enough and a tone just sweet enough to make it look as if she enjoyed tormenting them.

"If I caught them, they would be here, wouldn't they?" Magnus snapped. She quickly realized the offensiveness of her words and apologized. "Sorry, I'm just tired. We'll just get those Decepticons next time."

"What's that smell? It's like something died in a mech's gears and rotted there for three astrocycles!" A voice called from the floor below.

"Scrapheap, you're our medical officer, not our aromas officer. Now, get back to what you were doing." Shatterfire called back.

"That wasn't very nice." Magnus' optics brightened in a frown.

"Scrapheap is his name." Blindside explained.

"He's a Junkion." Firebrand helped.

"Captain, I'm afraid we have more bad news." Alkyone waved a datapad under Shatterfire's nose. "While you were on that wild goose chase, there was another kidnapping. This time it was two seekers, also in area seven."

"The raid was just a distraction!" Windstream slammed his fist into the wall. "It's our fault for not noticing."

"Also, I recently observed a pattern in the victims. They were all people who have refused to get their bodies updated in the last months." Alkyone grinned. "I think that makes it clear we've stumbled into something big. Do you want to back out while we still can?"

"I don't think we can back off now. If this really is connected to something big, we have to get to the bottom of it." Windstream turned and looked up at his commanding officers. "Captain, it's up to you whether or not we have legal permission to do this, but I'm going to investigate this case regardless."

"I'll, like, go too." Silvercloud got a sad look in her optics. "I think it's what Redline would have wanted. He was always inquisitive."

"We're staying on this case." Shatterfire grinned at her squad. "If anything, we owe it to Redline."

"Why do I feel like we just opened a can of worms?" Optimus asked no one I particular.

"The probability is high that we have pried away at dams to the degree that when the unleashed waters crash upon us, we shall perish. Perhaps the power behind the waters that we are about to release cannot be curbed." Alkyone looked around at the confused faces staring at her. "What? Old Liege proverb; you know how they always refer to water."

* * *

_Please review and tell me what you think. The title may not make sense until later chapters. This is the first time I've ever written a spin-off fic, so there may be out-of character moments. If anyone wants to know, Redline was Squad Omega's first medic. He was killed defending Scrapheap. I might write a fic about hoiw Squad Omega came together if Wayward lets me._


	2. Danger! The Combining Insects

_I finally got off my lazy (and busy) butt and wrote the second chapter. Please leave a review if you read this because it reassures me that people actually like my stuff. Without reviews, I tend to get depressed and stop writing. However, this is a fic I intend ot write all the way to the bitter end because I promised Wayward I would write a fic using her characters._

* * *

Magnus stretched as she awoke from her recharge cycle. After discussing the case of the kidnapped transformers with Squad Omega, she now had a grade-a headache. The motives had been discussed and the motives analyzed, but n definite answer could be deduced. Finally, a frustrated and exhausted Shatterfire had excused everyone from the meeting.

"I can't believe you're still here." A gruff voice yanked Magnus away from her recollections. A male Cybertronian was standing behind her, sipping from his energon cube. He was a black and burgundy space shuttle transformer with large, round shoulder pads. His armor was bulky on top, but slimmed down on the bottom. He had a blue colored chevron on his left arm and a power-ranger shaped helmet

"I didn't see you yesterday." Magnus smiled at the Cybertronian. "My name is Magnus; what's yours?"

"My name is Shadowstep and I'm the technician at the tower. What would I be doing in a meeting that involves the **Defense Force**?" Shadowstep growled as he downed his energon in one gulp. "The fact that you haven't left yet means the Captain and Alkyone decided to stay on the case. Crap, why couldn't they just know when to quit? I'm usually the one who does all the work while your bunch gets all the credit. Why couldn't we go back to the time before all this Squad Omega mess? We could have lived like we always did, but Prime just **had** to turn everything upside down. By the end of this, I just know I'm going to be lying on a cot in the med bay."

"But who was it who rushed in front of a neutron cannon blast to save Alkyone? If my memory chip serves me right, you were screaming something along the lines of 'don't you dare hurt her!'" Lightshard entered the room and beamed at the two already present.

"That was before she became an annoying, pain-in-the-aft monitor. I liked Depthshadow, and I liked when Alkyone was just her creator's secretary. Then she just had to go and ruin everything with her ambitions." Shadowstep grumbled. "Why couldn't things go back to the way they were when Depthshadow was the monitor?"

"I didn't see you do anything to stop Alkyone when Depthshadow died." Lightshard's smile now held a glint of curiosity.

"Depthshadow was crazy then; he wasn't himself. By Depthshadow, I mean the one before he turned into a megalomaniac and got himself killed."

"So, if you liked Depthshadow so much, why are you serving Alkyone now?"

"I'm doing it for Depthshadow. Before he changed, he would have wanted me to help Alkyone. I can't let the city fall apart because of some personal issues. Also, if I didn't work here, where would I work?"

"I think you like Alkyone more than you'll admit; just like how you act around Wavecutter." Lightshard grinned and hugged his friend.

"Darling, you're up." A blue blur that looked like Wavecutter jumped on Shadowstep and Lightshard and hugged them both.

"Speak of the devil!" Shadowstep screamed and threw Wavecutter off of him.

"Honey, don't keep on denying your feelings. We are connected by the red string of fate!" Wavecutter had a crazy look in his optics. "We are meant to be together! This is destiny! We were ordained to be a couple by the heavenly mandate of Primus himself, issued before our creation!"

"I'm sure that Shadowstep feels the same way." Magnus turned toward Shadowstep. "You're really lucky to have such a nice guy as your bond-mate."

"He's not my bond-mate!" Shadowstep yelled, looking embarrassed beyond measure.

"You certainly seem close enough." Lightshard patted his friend on the back.

"Tell me when the wedding is!" Magnus was smiling mischievously.

"Yes, Darling, can't you see the support that people are giving us? Clearly it is destiny's will that we shall get bonded. I promise that I will be the best bride in world!" Wavecutter tried to jump on the subject of his affection again, but Shadowstep ducked behind Magnus.

"Get away from me, you freak!" Shadowstep called, ducked into a ball.

"If you reject an opportunity as nice as this, you might not get another chance." Lightshard grinned while pushing Shadowstep toward Wavecutter.

"That's enough. I'm getting out of here." Shadowstep stomped off. "This place is just too happy for me. I mean, whoever puts Lightshard, Wavecutter, and that police chick in one room together is just asking for an upset stomach."

"Darling, wait!" Wavecutter called, hurrying after his beloved.

"Those two certainly are an interesting couple." While speaking, Magnus was also looking for the energon cubes. After the hectic exchange between the four, Magnus felt a bit drained.

"Here, try my Lightshard special: it gives you a wake up call." Lightshard handed the cube in his hand to Magnus. Magnus took one gulp of the energon and started coughing.

"What is this?"

"This is mid-grade enrgon mixed with some Yararron high-grade and just a pinch of jet fuel." Lightshard's smile became even wider.

"No wonder it tasted funny." Magnus shoved the cube back into Lightshard's hands. "I'm not the type of person who likes getting drunk first thing in the morning."

"Good luck with the case!" Lightshard grinned and cheerfully waved at her. As soon as Magnus stepped far enough from the room, she gave a shudder. Lightshard's smile was too happy, even for her.

* * *

Megatron stared at the Cybertronians standing before her. At first glance, they seemed to be just normal transformers that one would pass on the street, but a closer glance would prove that theory wrong. For on thing, they all had insect alternate modes. The leader was a blue and light green rhinoceros beetle. He had a large bazooka in place of his right hand. The one standing by him was a dark violet, black, and yellow femme who had a dragonfly alternate mode. Her choice of weapons was a bunch of bombs that were the eyes of the dragonfly, which hung under her chest in robot mode. The one next to her looked peaceful and meditative. He was a pale brown and gold cricket with a short, black chevron on his forehead. The one behind him was a red and gray water skimmer who had a very large metal oar. Standing a short distance away from everyone were the two last members of the crew: a yellow and black killer bee femme with a spear; and a magenta stinkbug.

"We are the Neo-Insecticons. We desire to be part of the Decepticon army. So, let us join, pretty please." The leader begged.

"Of course, we're always looking for more soldiers." Megatron cheered to herself. In the course of two days, she had gained seven more soldiers.

"My Queen, I pledge that I will serve you and the colony until the day of my gruesome and graphic death!" The bee yelled, jumping on Megatron.

"What are you doing? Get off!" Megatron recoiled from the bee's touch

"Stinglance, you're not following the rules!" The rhinoceros beetle, after some effort, managed to pull her off Megatron. "Sorry, but her mind was damaged in the incident that made us insecticons."

"Disgusting." Dreadmoon muttered.

"Get off my muse!" Shrapnel gave Stinglance a small shock.

Stinglance swung around and kicked Shrapnel in the stomach, knocking him over. "How dare you address the Queen as an equal, drone?"

"What's a drone?" Shrapnel looked up from his place on the floor.

"How dare you ask a question in such impolite terms? I am a female. I am superior to you. It is only by the Queen's mercy that you still exist. You are a male: your sex is inferior. Do not forget your place, ever again; or I will punish you for violating colony law 25423645." Stinglance lifted Shrapnel's chin with her spear.

"I think you would make a lovely canvas for my next masterpiece." Shrapnel allowed his electric blast to crackle in his hands.

"Shut up!" Megatron bellowed. "Both of you stand down. What exactly did you call me, Stinglance?"

"I called you Queen."

"I could get used to that." Megatron grinned.

"Well, let me introduce myself. I'm the team captain, Chromehorn. I've got spirit!" The rhinoceros beetle declared.

"I am Wuxia, and that is all you need to know." The cricket stated.

"My name is Skyburst." The dragonfly purred. "I dare you to tell me that I'm not pretty."

"You're not pretty." Wuxia stated flatly. "A woman's true beauty lies in her strength of character, not her appearance. You are vain and feckless. No true man will ever be attracted to you."

"Nobody asked you!"

"Can we get back to intros here? I'm Drift and I want to catch my forty winks." The water skimmer muttered. "I'm going to bed."

"Me am Rancidshell. I think me am smell good. Everyone else say me am stupid and stinky. Me no understand." The stink bug admitted, looking confused under his facemask.

* * *

When Magnus entered the control room, all she could see was a melee. The twins were running around, throwing things at each other; Whipcoil had tied Silvercloud to what looked like a medieval torture device; Shatterfire and Windstream were sparring with what seemed to be Chinese martial art—right in the middle of the room. Scrapheap was chasing Alkyone around, trying to make her watch a miniature TV.

"Excuse me, but what's going on." Magnus stared at the scene before her.

"Sorry that you had to see that. This is what everything usually degenerates into when we have a meeting." Scrapheap scratched his head apologetically. He was a tan and orange Junkion with a spiky shield on his arms and two jagged wings on his backside.

"Where's Prime?" Shatterfire asked form her position on the floor.

"He wanted to get to the bottom of the mysteries, so he did research the whole night. I don't think he got any recharge at all." Magnus was getting a bit worried when Optimus rushed in.

"Sorry, but I went into stasis in front of the computer." Prime elucidated sheepishly.

"No time to worry about that!" Shatterfire called as the alarm rang out.

"There's another Decepticon raid, this time in area one. There are six Decepticons. None of them match the Decepticons currently on record. They are also supposedly eating the surrounding buildings." Wavecutter exclaimed from the security center.

"Whipcoil, Windstream, Blindside, Firebrand, and Scrapheap are with me: we'll stop the Decepticons Magnus, go with Silvercloud and patrol the city. See if you can find the kidnapper." Shatterfire ordered.

"I'll go too." Optimus volunteered. "It's my job to fight Decepticons."

* * *

He could hear the noises outside of his door. Once again, his creator was working. He could tell by the screams; the screams that always lasted for a second and then died out. However, this subject was unusually talkative.

"What are you doing to me? Let me go?"

"Shut up, this is for you own good." It was his creator's voice, smooth and musical.

"How can tearing me apart be good for me?"

"I am giving you a gift: the gift of beauty. Your body shall be updated to perfection!"

"Please…no…stop! You're tearing me apart! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

His fingers drew circles on the wall in an invisible pattern. He was used to the screams. In this place, you either got used to everything, or it drove you mad. He could also hear his brother's cries. Every day, it was at the same time, in the same pattern.

"Let me out! Please, let me out! I can't stay here like this. I'll go mad!"

He wondered if he should tell his creator: explain the fact that Stormphantom was scared of small places. He tucked the thought away. Even if he yelled until his vocaliser broke down, his creator would pay no attention. Thus, he continued to scribble on the wall of his chamber.

Stormphantom's screams had broken down into small whimpers now. It was almost pathetic to hear him like this, so broken. "Please…let me out…."

A quiet note broke through the noises of the studio. It was his sister's song. The second it rang out, Stormphantom halted his sobs. The entire studio seemed to become silent, all noises drowned by the song as it rose in pitch. It was soothing and healing. Anyone listening could feel their mental and physical pain evaporating. Then, as sudden as it had come, it disappeared.

He loved the song. Sometimes, when he had just been listening to Stormphantom's cries, it felt like the only thing keeping him sane. Perhaps, without his sister's power, all five of them would have one mad long ago. While he was lost in reflection, the song started again, enveloping him in it warmth.

Was beauty great enough to kill for? Did it justify what his creator did? He quietly promised himself that when he found something beautiful, he would do anything for it.

* * *

"I don't see why I have to be sent on the same mission with the drones." Stinglance complained while taking a bite out of a pole. Surrounding the complex were piles of debris, behind which the police cowered.

"The Queen likes her males strong. That way, she can have strong children." Skyburst answered nonchalantly.

"The Queen is as wise as she is strong." Stinglance noticed the policemen bhind the rubble. "Your cowardice is a blight upon the face of your colony. For the sake of evolution, I must eliminate you."

"Get away from them!" Stinglance's gun was thrown a way by a shot from Windstream.

"Why do we need to stop her? There's nothing wrong about letting her carry out some natural selection." Whipcoil grinned.

"Whipcoil…"

"What? She's right. Only the strong should survive." Whipcoil pouted when Windstream disagreed with her.

"Finally, opponents worthy of my skill." Wuxia charged forward, kicking at Shatterfire.

Shatterfire ducked the kick and delivered a chop to Wuxia's leg. He landed and tried a series of lows, which were all countered. Seeing this, Wuxia backed away a little bit. Shatterfires's moves seemed to be too fast for a regular fighter, and yet too abrupt for an experienced pugilist.

"I see. You counter martial arts moves reflexively: the only advantage you have is when you are at a disadvantage. Your offensive capabilities are probably weak. Go ahead; attack me." To Shatterfire's chagrin, Wuxia had deduced her fighting style in a few seconds.

Seeing no way out, Shatterfire ran at Wuxia and tried to hit him in the face. Wuxia easily caught her fist and elbowed her in the abdomen. Shatterfire fell to her knees, gasping for air. Wuxia took the opportunity to kick her in the chin, sending her down face-first. Shatterfire quickly rolled away and got back up, wiping a trickle of energon from the corner of her mouth.

Wuxia crouched down and performed three spin kicks at Shatterfire's legs. Shatterfire jumped up, executed three back flips, and landed doing the splits. Stinglance joined in the fight, wielding her spear. Shatterfire quickly stabbed her harpoon chain into Wuxia's left wrist and turned her attention to Stinglance. While Stinglance used a spear, Shatterfire used a small energon dagger. The two fought for a while, seemingly deadlocking before Stinglance pulled Shatterfire up and slammed her headfirst in the ground a few times. Wuxia was about to hit the unconscious Shatterfire with his one good hand when Whipcoil caught it with her whip.

"Sorry, tall, light, and gruesome. Do you think I'd let the Captain have all the fun? I'm your opponent now, you bastard." Whipcoil swung her whip at Wuxia several times as he dodged.

"You seem to be experienced in armed combat." Wuxia dodged yet another blow from Whipcoil's whip. "I wonder how you will fight without you weapon."

"You'll be tied down before you can get this thing away from me. I wonder how long it'll take before I can make you scream in pain?"

"You can kill a soldier, but you can't shame him. I shall take my own life before showing weakness to the likes of you, Demon-girl."

"Hey, bro, look at that girl's boobs." Firebrand and his brother were currently engaged in their two favorite activities: fighting and girl-watching.

"Yeah, she's one hot momma." Blindside was staring at Skyburst, who was getting peeved.

Skyburst shook her head slowly and then ran up to the twins in a burst of speed. Acting fast than the twins could react, she brought her hands up in a slap that collided with Blindside's audios.

"M-my audios are ringing…the world's turning black. This is the end!" Blindside cried as he crumbled into a heap.

"Cut the melodramatics." Firebrand muttered as he fired his gun at Skyburst.

"Hey, she wasn't exactly gentle." Blindside snapped, rubbing his abused audios. "Frigid little glitch."

Skyburst zipped around the twins, throwing her bombs at them. The twins waited around, snapping a shot at Skyburst whenever they caught sight of her. However, even this was not enough, since Skyburst was just too fast.

Drift yawned as he blocked yet another one of Scrapheap's shots. "Why don't you just stop already? I don't have time for this. I just want to get some sleep."

"Eat laser, bug bastard." Scrapheap pulled the trigger again, but his gun had run out of ammo. Instead of taking the logical choice of reloading, he picked up pieces of the rubble and hurled them at Drift.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Drift desperately attempted to parry the pieces of debris flying at him with his oar.

"I'm ad-libbing." Scraphead returned.

"I think the word it improvising!" Windstream called while engaged in a battle with Rancidshell. "Ad-libbing is when you improvise lines, although that last ad-lib was pretty funny."

A luck whack from Drift's oar sent a piece of sharp rubble into Scrapheap's waist, straight into a major fuel line. The Junkion instantly exploded into many burning pieces.

"It's but a flesh wound." Scrapheap's oddly intact head dismissed as his body began to reassemble itself in a truly Junkion fashion.

Meanwhile, Rancidshell was beginning to get frustrated when none of attacks would hit Windstream. Whenever anything came close to hitting the Autobot, a gust of wind would bow it away. Since he was now seeing red, the ordinarily stupid Insecticon began to attack more fiercely, putting even more berserker rage in every move.

"Use your brain for once." Windstream muttered. "The wind pusing around isn't coincidental, it's my Vector Sigma power."

"What's a Vector Sigma? Can me eat it?"

"Dear Primus, I underestimated your sheer stupidity. Vector Sigma is a supercomputer that gave us all life."

"Stinglance says that the Queen gave us all life."

"Stinglance is crazy."

"You're crazy."

"Forgive me for not being able to converse with you any longer, but I have to end this." Windstream generated a (Chinese) dragon shaped blast of wind. "Flying sky dragon!"

Rancidshell, instead of being logical and jumping away, decided to run in the direction that the wind was heading in. He bowled over Stinglance, causing both of them to be swept into the current and thrown right on top of Shatterfire. Shatterfire, who was just awakening, found herself knocked out by the sudden weight.

"Sorry, Captain, I put too much force into that last shot." Windstream smiled sheepishly.

"Optimus Prime, I challenge you to single combat for the Decepticon cause!" Chromehorn yelled over the din of battle.

'What did you say?" Optimus called back, temporarily deafened by the sound of Blindside's scream of agony when he tripped and accidentally kissed the stinky and unconscious Rancidshell on the mouth.

"I challenge you to single combat!"

"What?" Prime was deafened again by the noise of Scrapheap hitting Drift with a lead pipe.

"I said single combat!"

"What?" Yet again, Prime was deafened by circumstances beyond his control, since Shatterfire and Stinglance were having a cat fight, complete with screeched insults and slaps.

"I said single combat!"

"What?" Optimus rushed over to help Windstream, who was being torn in half at the waist by one of Wuxia's martial arts holds. With Whipcoil's help, he managed to throw Wuxia off of Windstream.

"Oh, forget it." Chromehorn muttered as he tackled Optimus.

The two rolled on the ground a bit, neither getting the upper hand. They pushed away from each other and stood up. Chromehorn began to throw punches at Optimus while yelling something about spirit. Optimus dodged and then flattened Chromehorn with a haymaker.

"You haven't seen nothing yet! Time for some Spirit power!" Chromehorn lowered his head slammed his horn into Optimus. Prime grabbed Chromehorn's horn and threw him onto Skyburst, tipping the femmes on top of Firebrand chest-first.

"I'm in heaven." Firebrand muttered.

"I'm in hell!" Blindside screamed, running away from an infuriated Rancidshell, who did not appreciate the kiss.

"Look, I'm sure we can find a way to resolve all this. We don't need to fight." Optimus tried to convince Chromehorn to back dow.

"I'm not going to surrender! I have **Spirit**! Spirit, sprit: some have got it, others fear it!" Chromehorn retorted. "Insecticons, since we cannot defeat the Autobots as separate entities, let us defeat them as one! Insecticons, merge!"

The Insecticons all jumped up into the air. Chromehorn became an upper torso; Rancidshell became a lower torso; Skyburst and Stinglance became arms; and Wuxia and Drift became legs. The result was a giant robot who still retained some vaguely insectoid features.

"Six robot combination mechanism: Giant Insect Soldier Locutus!" The gestalt roared in his combined voice. Then, to the horror of everyone else present, he began his rampage.

* * *

Magnus sighed as she listened to Silvercloud's inane babbling. The two had been sent to patrol the city and keep a lookout for any kidnappings. Currently, Silvercloud was trying to occupy herself by talking about communicators.

"So then I was like 'I don't want a flashlight on mine.' But the salsman was like 'no, you need that flashlight.' Ugh, could you find anything more annoying?" Silvercloud jabbered.

"I'm looking at it right now!" Magnus snapped. After a few hours of hanging around Silvercloud, even the most optimistic Autobot would go crazy.

"Why do you hat me so much?"

"You never shut up."

"Do you think we'll find the Decepticons? I'm bored." Silvercloud complained.

"Of course we'll find them! We're the good guys, and good guys always win!" Magnus was once again beaming with energy.

"Let's go kick Decepticon can!"

"For once, you're right. Let's go!" Magnus dashed down the street, looking left and right while "accidentally" knocking down one or two innocent bystanders.

Silvercloud screeched to a stop when she heard a short scream emanating from somewhere behind them, in front of an alley. The two turned back just in time to see a Cybertronian collapse in a spasm for no reason. Magnus ran over and checked the mechanism's circuitry. There seemed to be nothing wrong, but with a closer look, she realized that on the mechanism's neck, there was a small disk that released a surge charge into the victim's relays. It had quickly knocked the victim out, leaving the target vulnerable to whatever the attacker had in mind.

"Show yourself!" Magnus called to whoever hid the dark alley.

"You are such a philistine." An arrogant voice reverberated through her ears.

"I suppose gunning people down on the side of the street are a sign of sophistication?" Magnus snapped.

"Bad temper…awful design…hostile toward art…you're just like all of the masses." The mysterious voice sighed. "How can I ever expect you to understand beauty?"

"This isn't beautiful—this is disgusting." Magnus snapped a few shots into the darkness. However, all she heard was the sound of her shot ricocheting away after having missed their target.

"Careful, you could hurt yourself with that thing." The voice, now closer, continued to antagonize Magnus.

Magnus continued to fire off her gun whenever she heard the voice. To her chagrin, all to the shots missed by a few seconds. She was down to on shot when she felt a hand gently stroke her face.

"You seem to at least understand hygiene; your face is so smooth." The voice whispered before disappearing again.

"Senior, he's on your right!" Silvercloud suddenly exclaimed.

"How do you know?" Mangus yelled back.

"I have enhanced senses. Look out; he's behind you, 45 degrees to the left and holding a weird looking gun-thing." Silvercloud answered.

"Thanks." Magnus grinned as she fired her last bullet in the direction that Silcercloud had described. The shot impacted with its target, sending the criminal out of his accelerated mode.

"Curse you. I'll come back for this one later" The criminal hissed, turning around and running away before Magnus could catch him. He had sped up too fast for anyone to see, but Silvercloud was sure she had caught a glimpse of lavender.

"Silvercloud, help me get this guy to the watch tower. That creep's going to be back, and we can't take any chances." Magnus hefted the unconscious mechanism onto her shoulders.

"You know, from the side, he looks a little like the Captain." Silvercloud commented on the Cybertronian.

"That's stretching it. Shatterfire is much flatter." Mangus giggled.

* * *

Firebrand cursed quietly when he saw that his shot had no effect on the storming gestalt. Scrapheap had requested for the twins to provide some sort of distraction while he found a way to defeat Locutus. Shatterfire, being desperate, backed the request up with an order. Fortunately for Firebrand, his brother had broken into hysterics after taking one look at the giant combiner. Currently, Locutus was chasing Blindside, who had transformed into car mode and was driving all over the place.

"Optimus, I have an idea!" Scrapheap held up something that looked like across between a crushed toaster and a piece of modern art. "This is a makeshift control rig. You can just plug one cord into yourself and the other into Locutus. Then, you can separate them from the inside of the gestalt's head!"

"I'll try." Optimus stared at the rig, which looked very unstable.

"I'll put this thing where it belongs." Whipcoil grabbed the other cord and threw it toward Locutus like the way she would crack her whip. The cord fell short.

"I'll help." Windstream gathered a blast of wind in his hands. "Blindside, Firebrand, continue distracting that thing. Whipcoil, throw the cord at Locutus' link module again. This time, before it falls, I'll give the Captain a boost. She'll throw the cord where it belongs."

"Great plan, Windstream" Shatterfire braced herself.

Once again, Whipcoil threw the cord. This time, as it started to fall, Shatterfire jumped into the air. Windsteam aimed a dragon shaped blast of wind at her feet as she caught the cord. With Windsteam's added boost, Shatterfire was able to catch Locutus by the shoulder and plug the cord into the back of his head. Locutus screamed and threw Shatterfire into a mound of rubble headfirst, knocking her out.

"It's all up to you now, Prime." Whipcoil called as she rushed to help Shatterfire.

* * *

Optimus Prime stared around nervously. This was his first time inside a gestalt's mind; it was his first time in anyone's mind. All around him, there were distorted shadows of the Insecticons. They were no longer in any specifics shape. Instead, they were blobs that were joined into each other at odd angles.

_Why are you here?_ Chromehorn's voice echoed.

_You aren't welcome, get out._ The other voices chorused

Instead of answering, Optimus grabbed the nearest shadow-shape and pulled, trying to disconnect it from the collective. He suddenly felt a burst of pain course through his body.

_What are you doing?_

_You'll kill us all!_

_Stop, just stop._

_Don't tear us to pieces unless you want to die too._

Optimus staggered back. There had to be some way to separate them without casualties. He caught a glimpse of the center at which the shadows all melted together. Perhaps this was the key to disconnect Locutus. Bracing himself for whatever might come, he plunged into the center of the merging shapes.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Autobots were staring at Locutus. He had grabbed his head and was lurching around the rubble-strewn battleground. Without warning, he separated back into his component Decepticons. At the same time, Optimus screamed and collapsed, knocked unconscious by the backlash.

"Insecticons, retreat!" Chromehorn ordered. The Insecticons, although tired and battered, were able to retreat successfully because the Autobots were too tired to chase after them.

* * *

Shatterfire stared intently at the patient lying in the medical gurney. After all repairs were completed, the Autobots had taken a bit of time to discuss how the case was progressing. Once again, they were unable to reach a firm conclusion. Now, Shatterfire and Alkyone sat in the med bay, checking on the patient. When Shatterfire ran her hand along her wings, she was swiftly struck with inspiration.

"Alkyone, take the patient to a secret location. I'll substitute for him." Shatterfire decided.

"Captain, you've hit your head too many times."

"I'm serious. This is the only way we can catch that Decepticon."

"Are you sure you can pull it off?"

"Hey, give me a quick paintjob and I'll look exactly like that guy."

"While you go ahead and implement your crazy plan, I'm going to my room to review the files again. Something about this case seems fishy." Alkyone turned and left.

* * *

"Optimus, can you hear me?" Magnus clutched her friend's hand. "Scrapheap told me it was just the backlash, but I'm still worried. Optimus, I'm here. I'll be here until you wake up, so don't worry. I'm sure you can pull through. After all, you're Optimus Prime. Just the name should be enough to protect you from something so minor."

Magnus stood up and stretched for a bit. "Remember when we first met at the academy? You were so nervous—couldn't even say your name in front of a crowd without stuttering. Nobody ever though you would become a security monitor, much less leader of the Autobots. We've truly come a long way, Orion."

Magnus smiled when she looked at her friend. When he was asleep, Optimus seemed so innocent, almost childish. It was easy to forget that he was her leader. She slowly leaned down toward his defenseless face until their noses almost touched. He was so unguarded that it was scary.

"You two make a cute couple." Shatterfire's comment caused Magnus to yelp and jump back.

"Please knock next time." Magnus gasped, still reeling from the shock.

"I was just heading toward Scrapheap's office when I saw you guys. I just wanted to tell you about my plan. I'm going to be taking the victim's place so I can catch the Decepticon when he comes to get me." Shatterfire explained.

"Did you hear everything I said?"

"Yep, and it made me a little jealous. I never had any friends when I was in the academy. Of course, I only attended for a few months before I joined the Defense Force."

"Prime and I aren't really a couple."

"You've known each other for a pretty long time. Just wait for a little longer and some intimate feelings might pop up." With that, Shatterfire continued her walk toward Scrapheap's office.

Magnus plopped down, blushing. She wondered if Shatterfire had told the truth and if she was going to become Optimus's bond-mate. It was both a scary and happy thought. While she mulled it over in her head, her blush grew deeper.

_

* * *

I really like chinese martial arts novels, and this chapter was just an excuse for me to write something action-filled. There was little to no character development because of the action-driven storyline, but I still remembered to write that brief Optimus/Magnus scene at the end. If you go and read the Tranformers: Forever section at Wayward's website, you'll see that they really make a nice couple! Just some unneed fluff. Wuxia's name is a chinese phrase for "martial arts gallantry." Hey, who said all transformers names were Latin or Greek rooted? The next chapter is going to be filled to the brim with plot twists and detective processes, so make sure to keep up!_

Once again, I do not own any characters or technobabble--Wayward does. Locutus was thrown in here just for fanservice for Wayward, who is a fan of the Insecticons.


	3. Find the Kidnapper!

Firebrand: Dear readers, today we are about to reveal something top secret.

Blindside: Our origins!

Firebrand: We were created as tributes to PuraJazzBot's characters. Pura did not like the way we were portrayed and got mad. Lotus had to apologize many times.

Blindside: I say Lotus deserved it. She did use another writer's character without permission.

Firebrand: Watch it. She'll be repainting and renaming you, so if you don't behave, you might end up with a stupid name like Tailpipe.

Blindside: I'll be good, I'll be good…

Firebrand: We're getting new paintjobs in this chapter, so pay attention!

Blindside: Thanks to Wayward for making this universe…

Firebrand: …And thanks to Pura for making the original Blindside and Burnstorm!

Blindside: Please remember that Lotus owns nothing except for that weird artist guy, but who would want him anyway?

Both: Thank you for reading. Go and take a look at the originals in Pura's story 'Storm Warnings."

* * *

Wraithscream polished off the last of his tools as he headed into his room to get some much-needed recharge (unfortunately for him, Megatron did not allow recharger beds). After the Insecticons had come back completely battered, he was the one responsible for fixing them. The grueling project, coupled along with Stinglance's complaints that a drone was laying hands on her, had drained Wraithscream of all of his energy. To make thing worse, Shrapnel had paid periodic "visits" to the med bay for the sole purpose of giving Wraithscream an unpleasant shock when the seeker least expected it. 

A laser scalpel dropped from its tray and rolled toward the door. Wraithscream chased after the appliance until it disappeared into a dark stretch of hallway. Wraithscream paused for a minute, but then decided that it would be better to pick it up than to get blamed when someone stepped on the thing and impaled his or her foot. He cautiously walked into the corridor, but he did not walk back out.

* * *

Megatron looked at the figure standing across from her. As always, his form was half obscured by shadows. 

"Allow me to congratulate you on the way you damaged our mutual enemy in your last battle. I now have even more support for the Decepticon cause. Although I cannot risk my place in society by actively joining you, I will do everything else to assist you" The figure stated.

Megatron beamed with pride. "The people are gaining back their fighting spirit. This is a battle that is worth fighting now."

"I will continue to serve you cause indirectly. It is an honor to serve such a powerful and aesthetically pleasing leader," The figure bowed and then retreated.

Dreadmoon's optics brightened in a frown. Perhaps he had turned paranoid after all these years of fighting in the Great War, but there was something suspicious about the artist. However, he was not about to start an investigation into the artist's secrets. Since the two sides were benefiting each other, a little manipulation from both of the parties could be tolerated.

Megatron walked into her quarters. Although she did not use a recharging bed like everyone else, she still had her own quarters to do research and relax. However, what greeted her was the sight of Thunderclash tied up like a turkey while lying on what seemed to be a mattress.

"What are you doing in my room?" Megatron screamed.

"It was Stinglance. She knocked me out and dragged me in here." Thuderclash muttered, struggling to untie himself.

A few minute later, Chromehorn and Rancidshell noticed their leader chasing after Stinglance while throwing various surgical tools at the bee. Finally, after pursuing Stinglance in several circles around the base, Megatron cornered her subordinate.

"Our leader sure has spirit." Chromehorn observed.

"I don't get it." Rancidshell muttered.

"Didn't you see the way she chased Stinglance around, never giving up until she accomplished her goal? That is the way a leader should be, especially a leader who has Spirit!"

"My Queen," Stinglance protested. "Don't you want to mate with a strong male to produce strong offspring? It's for the good of the colony."

"Stinglance, what sort of a fool do you take the queen for?" Skyburst glanced at her gestalt partner. "The Queen is perfectly capable of choosing her own strong males. She just desires to bide her time."

"Please forgive me, Queen! I have been such a fool!" Stinglance knelt down and bowed her head. "Punish me however you would like."

"If you ever try that stunt with me again, I'll make you regret ever coming online!" Megatron shrieked into Stinglance's face.

* * *

Alkyone frowned as she examined the information presented. Something definitely did not add up. If the Decepticons had done it, they would not have used the surge charge disks. Shrapnel, the only Decepticon artist, was capable of generating electricity and did not need any other weapons. The theory of reprogramming had been trashed when Magnus revealed that it was an artist who needed the bodies for some reason. 

The idea that the raids were coincidental also did not fit in. The attacks were too well coordinated to be mere flukes. Obviously, there was a connection between the Decepticon raids and he psycho artist, but Alkyone was unable to figure it out. It was not random, and yet not completely linked: there was no way to yank out the source by tugging at the strings.

Alkyone slowly got up from the floor and stretched her legs. She needed to go out of her room and get some energon. Although she did her best thinking when she was alone in her room, she still had the basic need to remain energized. She did not walk far from her door her door when she was jumped by Blindside and Firebrand.

"How do you like our new paintjobs?" Firebrand asked enthusiastically. He was now red and orange.

"Yeah, we didn't have enough time before, but we finally convinced Scrapheap to repaint us," Blindside grinned. He was now dark blue and purple.

"I'm going back into my room," Alkyone mumbled. "I want to spare my optics the torture of looking at these clashing colors."

"I'll take that as a no!" Blindside called after her. He looked over to his brother, who was staring at Alkyone's back "Hey bro, what are you doing"

"You gotta love a femme with big treads—the bigger the wheels, the better." Firebrand muttered, gazing at Alkyone's wheels.

"I'm more of a wings and large chevron person."

"I don't see you going after Shatterfire."

"Shatterfire is a flying car. Wings look out of place on her, like she tried to catch the latest fad but did it in the wrong manner."

"You're just in denial. Shatterfire and Blindside lying on a gurney…"

"Shut up." Blinside playfully punched his brother.

* * *

Wraithscream groaned as he rubbed his head. The last thing he remembered was a bolt of electricity running through his body. 

"I better tell Shrapnel to ease up on the electric shocks." Wraithscream muttered as he glanced around. The room that he was in was a Spartan cell, with one large window peering out into an unlighted hallway.

"Hey, new guy, do you fight?" A voice called from the other side of the room.

"N-not really." Wraithscream answered.

"Come on, I haven't had a decent fight in ages. I'm just aching to take apart something."

'I'm sorry, but I'd rather not…"

"The last guy didn't last long enough. Now, do you want to fight or just stand there and get torn apart?"

Wraithscream picked up the sword and struggled under its heavy weight. "Couldn't we work something out peacefully?"

"No. You have two choices: die or die."

Wraithscream took one look at the rampaging mechanism in front of and ran away, screaming like a little girl.

* * *

Shatterfire held her breath as she lay on the medical gurney. To obscure her identity, the lights in the entire level were shut off. Her optics were just beginning to adjust to the darkness. 

"Here you are. I promise that I'll turn you into a beautiful piece of art." A spooky shadow descended on the gurney. Its hand slowly reached to grasp Shatterfire's arm.

Shatterfire grasped the figure's wrist and twisted its arm painfully behind its back. "Who are you? What are you here for? Where are your other victims located?"

Instead of answering, the figure leaned backwards threw Shatterfire over its shoulder. "Curiosity extinguished the spark, my dear. It would be better not to ask. I prefer to keep my raw materials alive."

"I appreciate art, but Ihave to draw a line when innocents are harmed." Shatterfire back flipped and landed on her feet. She then rushed forward and slammed her elbow into the figure's abdomen.

"Why are femmes all philistines these days? I thought they would be the ones to understand." The artist shook his head. "People **have** lost their creativity over the years."

"I wish we could resolve this with no fighting, but that just wishful thinking."

"Of course," the artist ducked from one of Shatterfire's kicks. "I will fight if someone tries to interfere with my art."

"I'm sorry about your art, but I can't let innocent people get hurt."

"I'm not hurting them." The artist grabbed Shatterfire's arm and peered into her optics. "I'm helping them."

"It only counts as help if they want it to be done to them." Shatterfire jerked her arm away.

"You have an awful design." The artist changed the subject. "Your creator was obviously someone who would whip up some sort of a disgusting imitation of an obsolete fad and call it art. If such a person showed up in the artistic community, I would not be surprised if he were lynched."

"Then I suppose we're very lucky that he's already permanently deactivated!" Shatterfire turned upside-down and nailed her opponent with a kick to the chin. "My design is a heavily modified version of a pre-existing model."

"Modified for the worse, I see. What sort of disturbing thoughts were running through your creator's head when he painted you that awful color?"

"I **like** pink!"

Shatterfire swiped at the artist's head, but he was too fast for her. Before she could react, he had jumped behind her and shot her with his surge disks. The last thing Shatterfire remembered before passing out was electricity coursing through her systems.

* * *

"That was Primus-fragged disgusting." Shadowstep complained after Wavecutter had pounced on him yet again. 

"You can't really blame him." Scrapheap commented as he glanced at Wavecutter's retreating shape.

"Scrapheap, the guy can't even get it through his head that we don't really have gender. Also, he says such weird things about bonding ceremonies. To say that he's messed up little creep doesn't even begin to sum it up."

"His brain circuits are literally crossed, Shadowstep. He's extremely sensitive about that fact too. Last time I tried to fix his head, he decked me." Scrapheap explained.

"His 'sister' Flamspyre is supposed to be more messed up than he is. What did his creator do: make him while overenergized?" Shadowstep noticed Scrapheap turning back into the med bay. "Hey, don't go. I need someone to listen to my complaints!"

A loud clatter in the med bay alerted Shadowstep. He turned around just fast enough to see Scrapheap being thrown out of the med bay head-first. An odd figure followed, running down the corridor with Shatterfire slung over his shoulder.

"Hey, Lightshard," Shadowstep called to the guard, who had come running down the hall. "Help me stop this guy! He's got the Captain."

"I'm sorry, but I can't" .Lightshard smiled apologetically.

"Why? Tell me why!" Shadowstep grabbed Lightshard's shoulders and shook him.

"I'm sorry." Lightshard yanked out an energon knife and plunged it into Shadowstep's side; he then smiled coldly. "Forgive me for doing this, but I cannot let you interfere."

"Why are you doing this?" Shadowstep collapsed against the wall, holding his wound, which was gushing energon. "Why did you kill me?"

"I have my reasons." Lightshard continued smiling and leaned in close.

"What are they?" Shadowstep rasped. "Tell me what I'm dying for."

"I'll tell it to your memorial tablet, but I can't tell you now. Do you have any other last words?"

"Tell me why you're doing this, you damn traitor! I can't die until I know why!"

"I'm telling you, I have my reasons." Lightshard smiled and then threw the knife into Shadowstep's chassis. "Good night, Stepper!"

Shadowstep gasped as the knife impacted with its target. A trickle of energon, rather small compared to the amount that was spurting from Shadowstep's side wound, was flowing out of the new injury. Shadowstep glared up at his attacker and then passed into unconsciousness.

"Well, I did apologize." Lightshard grinned as he yanked his weapon from Shadowstep's chassis. "I wonder if the Decepticons are still taking new soldiers…"

* * *

Wraithscream brought his sword up to counter the blow aimed at his head. He could barely heave the heavy weapon at first, but as the battle progressed, he found it easier and easier to use the sword. Now, although he was still a bit awkward when handling his blade, he could manage to defend himself. 

"Is there any possibility that we could end this without having me horribly mauled?" Wraithscream yelped as a sword swing barely missed his head.

"No way! I'm having too much fun!" The mysterious mechanism's attack almost took off Wraithscream's right wing.

"Time for some desperate measures…" Wraithscream lifted up his sword and threw it at his opponenent. When then mysterious mech ducked, Wraithscream, clutching his sword, jetted up until he hit the ceiling. Then, he attempted to slice his opponent by descending from the air. Unfortunately, the mysterious mech was too fast and jumped away from Wraithscream's attack. Wraithscream's sword, being extremely heavy, dragged its wielder into a painful face-plant.

"For that, you get a ten for effort, zero for effectiveness, and twenty for humor value!" The enigmatic mech rolled on the ground, laughing.

Wraithscream got up, rubbing his sore faceplate. He did not have very long to relax before another sword strike landed mere inches away from him. Struggling up, Wraithscream clutched his sword and charged.

* * *

"Everybody calm down!" Optimus all but screamed at the members of team Omega. Currently, everything was in a state of pandemonium. Scrapheap was scurrying around the med bay; Whipcoil was chasing Silvercloud around with her whip; Windstream was blaming himself for not being able to stop the intruder; and the twins were nowhere to be seen. 

"Optimus is correct: the most effective course to take would be to pacify ourselves and examine this case calmly. Panicking gets us nowhere," Alkyone stated.

"Easy for you to say—you're an emotionless glitch! That creep has Shatterfire; who knows what he's doing to her?" Whipcoil snapped her signature whip. "Just thinking about this makes me want to cause him pain."

"You want to cause everybody pain." Silvercloud pointed out.

"Only this time, the only thing I'll be enjoying is his screams. Nobody kidnaps **my** friends and gets away unscathed." Whipcoil ran her fingers along the length of her whip.

"Whipcoil, stop being stupid."

Whipcoil turned around and stared at Magnus. "If we weren't working together, I would have torn off your head for that comment."

"We can afford to wait just a few seconds. I'm sure we'll get Shatterfire back." Magnus walked up to Whipcoil and grabbed the other femme's whip. "This isn't the time for rash actions. We can always storm the enemy's fortress and kick their aft later, but for now we need to find them first."

"Okay, let's review this thing." Alkyone tapped a few keys on the computer, bringing up a hologram of a list of the city's residents. "The kidnapper was definitely an artist, but we have no other information."

"Actually, we do know that he has some dealings with the Decepticons." Optimus stated.

"He was lavender-colored, and had a deep voice." Magnus' optics brightened in a disgusted frown. "He had this creepy obsession with modifying bodies. Three-to-one he's a body-shell designer."

Alkyone entered the filtering information into the computer. "Although this has dramatically narrowed our list of suspects, we still have seven city residents who match that profile—eight if you include the Decepticons' own Shrapnel."

"He had a bit of lavender on him." This time it was Silvercloud who spoke up.

"That still leaves us with three suspects, including Shrapnel."

"I don't think Shrapnel would be the one doing the kidnapping. He already produces electricity. Remember his experimental engine?"

"Thank you, Prime. I was going to say that before you interrupted." Alkyone shot Optimus a jealous glare. "That narrows our list down to two people. Although Silvercloud insists that the attacker was male, we cannot rule out the possibility that it was a femme using a voice changer."

"Okay, we've got the suspects down, but what do we know about the motive?" Magnus paced around the room. "Do we have anything connecting the victims?"

"Other than the fact that they ignored upgrades, nothing."

"I never heard of people being kidnapped because they were slobs. Were there any marks on the bodies to signify a possible affiliation with a certain organization?"

"No, we haven't seen any marks." Windstream answered. "I'm a cryptologist, so I would know if there was any symbolism. So far, there have been no marks to indicate anything."

"That send us back to square one." Alkyone growled. "I was so sure that there was a link to the Decepticons somewhere."

"I say we take care of the problem with this artist guy first and worry about the Decepticons later." Whipcoil asserted.

"I suppose I could figure out the connection with the Decepticons after we solve the first part of the mystery." Alkyone turned back to face her comrades. "We still need some way to find out which one of the subjects was our pepetrator."

"So, what so we do now?" Whipcoil called out snidely.

"Whipcoil, Windstream, Silvercloud—go and interview our first subject, a femme named Benthos. Optimus, Magnus, please take the twins and do the same thing with our other suspect, Apocrypha." Alkyone commanded

"Hey, as second in command, I'm the one who's supposed to assume leadership resposibilities in an emergency!" Whipcoil protested.

"All right, what do you suggest we do, leader?" Alkyone snapped.

"As leader, I agree with Alkyone's plan." Whipcoil muttered.

"What if we run into Decepticreeps?" Silvercloud asked.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of the Decepticons." Optimus assured the young seeker.

"Are you sure you can handle it?"

"I don't see anybody else stepping up to volunteer for this, but someone needs to do it. That is why I have to fight the Decepticons, even if I don't want to." Optimus explained.

"You're so stupid—just like your predecessor." Alkyone scoffed. "You Optimuses are always trying to bear the weight of the world on your shoulders. Someday, you'll meet someone who you can't save. What will you do when that time comes?"

"Excuse me, but could we go now." Magnus had started feeling uneasy because of Alkyone's words.

"Of course; I'm not keeping you here." Just as everyone turned to leave, Alkyone called out to Magnus. "Keep an optic on your bondmate. I have a feeling that he'll try something so foolishly noble that it puts his own life in danger."

"He's not my bondmate!" Magnus called back, blushing.

* * *

Shatterfire groaned and rubbed her head. The artist's skill with a surge blaster was not to be underestimated. 

"You're awake. I thought you were deactivated."

Shatterfire looked up to see a young mech huddled up in a corner.He was pale aqua blue, with a green diamond pattern covering his body. Instead of blue, his optics glowed emerald green.

"I don't expect you to remain around for long." The mech fixed his optics on Shatterfire. "You're just raw material for my creator to work with."

"So that's what he was doing." Shatterfire whispered. "Is there any way out of this cage? Since I'm already in his headquarters, I might as well as see if I can take him down."

"There's no way out. My siblings tried, but they couldn't break the walls. We've been here our entire lives."

"I'm sorry," Shatterfire muttered. She glanced down sadly. "I feel really sorry for you. You never got to see anything outside of this cage."

"Actually, it's not that bad." The mech glanced a bit at Shatterfire. "You look like your systems are seizing up. Are you okay?"

"No wonder Alkyone always calls me 'crybaby captain'—I can never control my emotions." Shatterfire laughed humorlessly. "I'm just too sentimental for my own good."

"My brother once said that action, not sentimentality was the only thing that ever did any good."

"I agree, so let's try to find a way to get out of here." Shatterfire began to tap at the walls, trying to find a weak spot.

"Oh, before I forget, what's your name?"

"I am Captain Shatterfire of the Defense Force" Shatterfire turned to face the other occupant. "What's your name."

"My name is Dreamglow; or at least that's what my creator calls me right now. He's very picky about our names, so me and my siblings have had more than one name change. Usually, every time he feels like it, he declares our old names to be obsolete and renames us the first thing that pops into his head." Dreamglow glance at Shatterfire, who was still attempting to find a weakness in the room's construction. "I told you that it's useless. My siblings and I all have Vector Sigma powers, and even we haven't broken out yet."

"You might not be able to break these walls, but I think you could weaken them. After that, I could break them with a punch." Shatterfire held out her fist. "I may not look like much, but I can still break a wall if I punch hard enough."

"All right, stand back." A light gathered in Dreamglow's hand before transforming into a balttle axe and lauching itself toward the wall. It exploded upon impact.

"Is that your power?" Shatterfire's optics brightened in amazement.

"Yes—hard light constructs. They usually last only around one to two minutes and disperse after hitting something too solid." Dreamglow was already fiddling around with another ball of light.

"Go ahead and fire. I'm ready when you are."

* * *

Shadowstep growled as he pushed himself up from his gurney. "Where's that little traitor? I'm going to tear him into scrap metal!" 

"You aren't even supposed to move right now." Scrapheap pushed his patient back onto the gurney. "You're just lucky that lightshard wasn't good with the knife. He missed all of your vital machinery, but he did cut through a fuel line. You're going to have to wait a few cycles before you can get up."

"Are you done ranting yet, doc?" Shadow step jumped off his gurney, holding his side. "Lightshard is mine! After what he did, I'm not about to let him get away!"

"You'll be getting out of this medbay over my deactivated shell." Scrapheap blocked the door with his own body.

"Shut up and get out of my way!" Shadowstep swung his fist into Scrapheap's jaw, knocking out the Junkion. "Lightshard is mine."

Before anyone could check the medbay, Shadowstep jumped into a dark corner. His body disappeared into the shadows as he displayed his Sigma power—the ability to teleport using shadows as a medium.

* * *

"We'll be better off splitting off into teams." Optimus declared. The four were standing in front of an artist's studio which looked, for all intents and puposes empty. 

"I'm going with Magnus." Blindside put his arm around Magnus' shoulder.

"No way, I'm going with Magnus." Firebrand yanked his brother's arm away from the femme.

"You can both go with Magnus.I can explore my side of the studio alone." Optimus suggested.

"Are you surle you'll be alright?" Magnus shook off the twins and walked up to Optimus.

"Yeah, if you want either of us—or the babe—to help you, just say so." Firebrand declared.

"Don't worry, I can handle Decepticons, so this artist should be no problem."

"Okay, let's meet up back here in a few cycles." Blindside rushed into the studio before anyone could stop him.

"That idiot." Firebrand muttered.

* * *

Wraithscream winced as he felt a jolting pain on his right side. One look told him that his right wing had been severed. However, his opponent was in even worse shape, as Wraithscream's sword had entered his shoulder and exited from the base of his neck. 

"You really are good." Wraithscream's opponent collapsed to one knee and coughed up a mouthfull of energon. "As a reward, I'll tell you my name—Warmonger."

"Hey, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to stab you." Wraithscream tried to lift up Warmonger's large frame, but he was not good at supporting heavy objects.

"This is so embarrassing. I wanted you to be the one who would lie here bleeding while I finished you off."

"I guess I should take that as a compliment." Wraithscream muttered.

"You must be strong." A soft voice penetrated the room from the other side of the wall. "Do you think you could bust us out?"

"I'll try." Wraithscream yanked a small hammer out from subspace and began to tap it on the wall. "The structural integrity of this room is sound, but there has to be a weakness somewhere." Upon finding an area that sounded different, he hit it with his hammer as hard as he could. A tiny hole, the size of a finger, appeared in the wall.

"What do we do now?" Warmonger asked mockingly.

"We can use our swords to pick away the rest of the metal." Wraithscream positioned his sword in front of the hole. "One…two…go!"

* * *

Magnus's optics dimmed in confusion as she saw the maze of mirrors before her. As she stepped toward one possible turn, she bumped straight into a mirror. 

"Twins, be careful, it's easy to…Twins?" Magnus hung her head dejectedly. "I can't believe that they're already lost."

"Magnus, come in." Alkyone's voice rang out on Magnus' communicator.

"Alkyone, what happened? You sound a little excited for some reason."

"Our first suspect was found to be in no state to perform the kidnappings. Therefore, by process of elimination, Apocrypha has become the most likely suspect."

"You and your stupid euphemisms." Whipcoil decided to join the conversation. "Benthos was permanently deactivated—with chunks missing from her body. Of course she's in no state to anything!"

Magnus nodded and closed her communicator. Since she was now investigating the top suspect, she had to take extra precautions. Before she could reflect on the situation any longer, she saw a florid arch, with a statue perched at the top. The sculpture was smiling and holding its arms out in a gesture of welcome, but nothing could hide the fear and sadness in its optics.

Stifling a feeling of nausea, Magnus turned on her rockets and flew up to the sculpture's level. Slowly, she opened the sculpture's chassis to take a look and the interior circuitry. What she saw made her reel back in disgust. "Alkyone… come in…. I think I found our culprit."

* * *

"Apocrypha," Dreadmoon called to the shadowy figure. "Although I harbor no feelings of affection for our newest recruit, I must ask you to return him." 

"Dreadmoon, you really live up to your reputation as a Great War Monitor." Apocrypha stepped fully into the light for the first time. He was a lavender and magenta space shuttle with on long golden horn and one short silver horn protruding from his helmet. "You were able to figure out my identity after such a short amount of time. However, why are you so concerned now? Before, you just let me go about my business."

"Your business has become interwined in mine. I do not care if we manipulate each other to our own ends, but now that you have targeted my subodinates I must ask you to stop."

"You just said that you did not mind manipulations." Apocrypha was already shifting his body into a fighting position.

"I do not mind them if we can both accomplish our goals. However, you have become an obstacle to the Decepticon cause." Dreadmoon also prepared himself for a fight. "Give back that seeker and we can pretend this never happened."

"I have a better idea." Apocrypha charged toward Dreadmoon. "How about I shut you up permanently? That way, I'll have two subjects to work with and no one to go around, blabbering about my plans!"

* * *

"This slotting parts bin is about to regret betraying me." Shadowstep whispered, temporarily ignoring the pain in his side. 

Shadowstep staggered out of building's shadow. Due to his wound, his teleport distance ahd become decreased. However, he could still feel Lightshard's aura nearby. Dragging himself to his feet, he once again stepped into the shadows.

Meanwhule, Lightshard shivered. "I think someone is talking bad about me. Oh well, I'm just paranoid." Lightshard's smile became even brighter. "I already killed the only guy who cared enough to get mad at me and call me names."

* * *

Optimus looked around in the empty room. It was like a dungeon, containing larger versions of regular sculpting tools, as well as a rack. There was energon covering the walls, the floors, and the tables. 

"I wonder what happened here," Optimus muttered as he picked up a laser scalpel and inspected it.

"What are you doing here?" A voice intruded upon the silence of the room.


End file.
